Nurse Agrees To Plea Deal, Admits Thefts From Elderly

August 19, 1999|By KEVIN KRAUSE Staff Writer

A former home care nurse who confessed to stealing $300,000 worth of jewelry from her elderly patients has agreed to a plea deal in which she will help police return some of the loot to her victims, police said Wednesday.

In exchange for her assistance, Millicent Pitterson will plead guilty to grand theft and exploitation of the elderly and will serve one year in prison, according to law enforcement sources.

The tentative deal, reached on Friday by both parties, is scheduled to be signed in court next week. However, it first must be approved by a judge.

Pitterson's attorney, Gerald Salerno, said his client has identified some jewelry from photographs and told police from whom she took it.

Because Pitterson pawned all the stolen jewelry, police were only able to find 30 pieces. The rest, about 70 items, had been sold.

With Pitterson's help, detectives were able to recover 10 of the 30 pieces of stolen jewelry for a total value of about $90,000, said Detective Bill Griffin, of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

The jewelry will be returned to the six owners by the end of next week, he said.

The other 20 pieces of jewelry will remain in the pawn shops until sold because Pitterson couldn't remember who they belonged to, he said.

"She doesn't remember which piece goes where," Griffin said. "She said, `I've stolen so much, I can't remember who I took it from.'"

Pitterson, 33, was arrested in April after an 86-year-old former patient noticed her $10,000 diamond wedding ring missing.

When questioned about the ring, Pitterson confessed to stealing about 100 pieces of jewelry worth $300,000 from more than 50 other victims while working for Redi-Nurse of Palm Beach County, police said.

Police said Pitterson, a Canadian citizen living in Boynton Beach on a visa, also robbed her victims of $10,000 by stealing blank checks and forging them during the past three years.

Pitterson told investigators she pawned all the jewelry at four Cash America pawn shops.

Sheriff's detectives traced the stolen jewelry after reviewing records of all her pawn transactions, but most of it already had been sold. Under state law, pawn shops are required to keep merchandise for only 90 days.

Using those pawn records, police charged Pitterson with additional thefts in June.

But detectives conceded at the time that the majority of that jewelry would never be recovered because of the failing memories of the victims.

Before the plea deal was offered last week, Pitterson refused to cooperate with police.

If the deal is approved next week by a judge, Pitterson will likely face deportation after her release from prison if she doesn't voluntarily leave the country.

Kevin Krause can be reached at kkrause@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6604.